As if the tablet has anywhere near the power to run Thunderbolt? Did you see how big the chip was?

I dont see a problem here. Its a large chip, but when its plugged into a Thunderbolt port its getting 10W of power from the host. This not only means a decent charging rate but a faster data sync rate, both which far exceed USB.

The size isnt a real issue in the iPad, at least not the original iPad, when I look at the iFixit breakdown. Even the 3G card used for just GSM/HS*PA is larger than the Gobi 2 cards that actually provided CDMA/EV-DO/GSM/HS*PA.

The real issue here might be cost, but even if its fairly expensive it could push enough consumers to buy a new Mac to get that new technology. Well, at least for me its the only thing that could get me to buy a new MBP for this revision.

I like Apple - have an iPhone 3GS, plan to upgrade to "iPhone 5" and use a MBP at work. But this is (TO ME) is not a good upgrade. No SD-Card or Thunderbolt connectivity? No high-res screen? iPad 2 has what new... a couple cams, thinner (which most people don't care about), and more RAM (which is very good)...but still, whoopdee-freaking-doo. Especially with the Xoom and TouchPad (etc) coming out with dual-core processors, SD slots, better messaging and multi-tasking options, 1G RAM, HD cam, etc etc. Apple has to keep up and hopefully next Wednesday will offer more than 2 cams, more RAM, and thinner. I hope they at least put a higher res screen and some type of better connectivity.

All I'm saying is Apple can't lay back on their laurels and think, "We're Apple... iPad is #1, we have our devoted fans/buyers and we can put anything out there, even if it's not as good as the competition because they'll buy anything with an Apple logo." Next thing you know it'll be Android phones all over again... people will bail on Apple and go to other devices - then Apple is losing market share rapidly and fighting to keep up.

A friend of mine who relies on me for Tech advice wants to buy an iPad for his wife, I been telling him to wait for iPad-2. Now I have to tell him to look at iPad2, but also keep his options open and also look at Xoom and TouchPad when it comes out. Don't get complacent Apple, we aren't all Apple drones.

I am a confused customer. Buy or wait for iPad 2.2 with retina in september?

This is why you buy when you're ready. Yeah, if you know something new will be announced in a few weeks you may hold off. But months and months? No. I got the iPad 1 within a short time of release and have been enjoying it all these months while some people I know are still waiting for v2. If v2 (or 1.5) has no retina and other things they are expecting, what then? They've waited so long already. Why not a few more months in case a new version is out in the fall? It never ends. For my needs, I see no reason to upgrade now. Down the road when I'm ready to do so, I will buy what's avaible rather than chase rumored features "merely months away."

Rest on it's Laurels... no... but it can delay shipping products if the competition isn't competing with the current platform and 'keeping your powder dry.' It makes economic sense to 'milk' this cash cow with incremental updates... most likely keeping the entry level price just below what an OEM+OS+Retailer can sell a comparably specced competitive product for.

I'm happy with apple releasing what it can with limited risk and upside. FaceTime, better compute platform, more memory, and better battery life are all we really need right now.

If anything, I'd welcome a 6 month release schedule, to give better reaction time to the competition, and hit critical market dates (Why is a Q1 release date important for computers phones and tablets... because corporate budgets free up around March every year... Why are iPods so important to release in September... to hit the holiday sales cycle). Now, with crossover products like 'corporate phone' and 'professional tablet', that double as 'gamer phone' and 'personal/portable compute/media device' a 6 month cycle will force the competition to continually 'skate to where the puck was' Where Apple executes 'short crisp passes' on their way down the ice.

1) Thunderbolt would not plug into my Mac
2) It would not plug into a TV
3) It would not plug into my dock.
4) It's not designed to support the weight of the device.
5) No peripheral that the iPad uses would ever need it

The iPod dock connector is a brilliant thing. People who whine about it deserve to spend eternity trying to plug a bent mini USB plug into a recessed socket.

I am a confused customer. Buy or wait for iPad 2.2 with retina in september?

It really depends on what you actually want. There are people who will spin off this whole "if you wait for the next model, you'll be waiting forever." Those people are people obviously not looking for specific features.

I held off buying the first generation iPad because I didn't like the screen. I have better than 20/20 vision and can easily see the pixels on the screen. While I can also see the pixels on my MBP and on my 30" Cinema Display, they are generally further from my eyes in normal use so they tend to be less of an issue for me. I saw the iPhone 4 and loved the Retina display. The bad news for me was that I skip generations as a rule with Apple products (especially when they come with lovely two year contracts. I bought the first generation iPhone as it was revolutionary. I skipped the 3G and I bought the 3Gs. When the iPhone 5 is for sale, I'll buy it because I know they won't downgrade the display.

The iPad 2 had rumors floating around about a Retina Display on it. To me, personally, the display is the single largest factor when it comes to the iPad. If this new one doesn't have a Retina Display (one I can't see the pixels on), it's a non-event to me regardless of what they put under the hood. So it really depends on what you intend on using the iPad for. If the specs on the next one meet your needs, then go ahead and buy it because you'll be happy with it even when a newer version comes out. If you're looking for something specific, I say it's best to wait for that specific thing to be incorporated in the design.

Absolutely buy. iPads have a good resale value. But I'd say buy iPad 2 and wait for iPad 4.

Well Ok, thank you. I guess I am this type of guy, even when I hate to look at 132 ppi compared to the iPhone4 or a physical newspaper. There is so much good software for iPad out now. Hope it will be lighter. Still enjoy to hear more rumors until wednesday.

I like Apple - have an iPhone 3GS, plan to upgrade to "iPhone 5" and use a MBP at work. But this is (TO ME) is not a good upgrade. No SD-Card or Thunderbolt connectivity? No high-res screen? iPad 2 has what new... a couple cams, thinner (which most people don't care about), and more RAM (which is very good)...but still, whoopdee-freaking-doo. Especially with the Xoom and TouchPad (etc) coming out with dual-core processors, SD slots, better messaging and multi-tasking options, 1G RAM, HD cam, etc etc. Apple has to keep up and hopefully next Wednesday will offer more than 2 cams, more RAM, and thinner. I hope they at least put a higher res screen and some type of better connectivity.

All I'm saying is Apple can't lay back on their laurels and think, "We're Apple... iPad is #1, we have our devoted fans/buyers and we can put anything out there, even if it's not as good as the competition because they'll buy anything with an Apple logo." Next thing you know it'll be Android phones all over again... people will bail on Apple and go to other devices - then Apple is losing market share rapidly and fighting to keep up.

A friend of mine who relies on me for Tech advice wants to buy an iPad for his wife, I been telling him to wait for iPad-2. Now I have to tell him to look at iPad2, but also keep his options open and also look at Xoom and TouchPad when it comes out. Don't get complacent Apple, we aren't all Apple drones.

Your entire rant is based on bullsht rumors. Just. Wait.

I am entirely unaffected by the rumor mill, and I maintain the fact that the new iPad 2 WILL in fact have a higher pixel density. This is just my belief, based on how well I know Apple...so we'll see.

Honestly my opinion on it is no more valid or invalid than John Gruber or Engadget. In fact, my opinion is probably slightly more valid since I'm not click baiting with every word I post.

Kids, Apple is a creature of habit and great product development cycles, they will not put out one version of the iPad2 next week and then change it in September. They will not cannabalize one product line's sales (iPod family), to sell an improved product just 6 months after they introduce it, especially if they are already selling millions of the iPad2. They spread out their product upgrades for this reason. A study of how Apple develops and markets its' products over the past several years is a study of how to run any product development cycle. Focus on one family of products at a time, to focus your customers' attention (and money) on one product at a time.

Their attention to fine detail reaches way beyond their amazingly well thought out products. Start the year out with higher priced product upgrades (Macs, iPads), then the next intro a few months later focus on lower priced product (iPhone), then in another few months, even lower priced products (iPods), so for the Back to School/Christmas/Hanukkah buying/gift giving season people have had longer to save up $$ for the higher priced "gifts", with less time for the lower priced - impulse buy gifts. Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, iMac, iPad, iPhone, iPod...

So the rumored iPad 2.5 will be a larger iPod Touch, meaning no 3G connectivity (which will be reserved for the iPad).

There's your lesson in Product Development/Design/Marketing 301 for today. Go research the last several years of Apple product delivery cycles for your homework assignment...

Oh I think they have very good reasons this year, and those reasons even have names - XOOM, Galaxy Tab 2, Playbook, and Touchpad.

Tablet competition will be ferocious this year, and without a retina display to shout about the iPad 2 is going to have a tough time competing against more technically advanced competition.

An iPad retina display has less to do with the competition and more to do with fundamentals like: cost of production, memory utilization, power consumption, processing power, etc. The author wasn't arguing about whether or not a retina display on an iPad was a good idea, or if Apple does or does not have a good reason for wanting to do it, they were addressing the probability that it is actually achievable at this time; these are very different animals.

And enjoy spending more money for it than an equivalent iPad, by the way. Enjoy, too, the malware and other threats floating around the Android marketplace, and the turgid applications churned out by Google's singularly underwhelming development environment.

And enjoy spending more money for it than an equivalent iPad, by the way. Enjoy, too, the malware and other threats floating around the Android marketplace, and the turgid applications churned out by Google's singularly underwhelming development environment.

Don't forget the "send it off for 6 days to get the upgrade"
and the unforgettable.
"Sign up for a one month cellular contract to enable WiFi."

I have no doubt that Apple creates a variety of prototypes of new products to test out different technologies. I would bet money that they have prototypes testing different displays, including "retina displays'. I could even see them having a prototype with a SD card, if only to use that SD to load software on the device during testing. or as a proof of concept. Whatever hardware Apple does decide to produce will have been decided months before the actual delivery of a product to a customer. You can't plan production for millions of devices at the last minute. The Apple rumor mill has become a big business for some blogger types in the last 10 years. I am sure they love all the web hits they get. All the Apple fans will view because they are curious about buying a new device, all the Apple haters will hit the web page to post flaming comments. And the flame wars back and forth over any rumor are guaranteed to give those sites plenty of web hits. Some sites like AppleInsider try to be honest with their reports. But look at all the grubby little creepy tech bloggers out their who make a living reporting rumors and hitting up product vendors for demo toys to "review". These are the kind of leeches who add nothing productive to the world. The only solution for them would be to send over Joe Pesci with a baseball bat. One thing I wonder about all these "rumored features" that may have appeared in a prototype product, is how Apple keeps track of them. By releasing different prototypes with different features can Apple connect the dots back and figure out who is releasing information that is supposed to be held confidential under a non-disclosure agreement?

1) Thunderbolt would not plug into my Mac
2) It would not plug into a TV
3) It would not plug into my dock.
4) It's not designed to support the weight of the device.
5) No peripheral that the iPad uses would ever need it

The iPod dock connector is a brilliant thing. People who whine about it deserve to spend eternity trying to plug a bent mini USB plug into a recessed socket.

AKA : with the possible exception of the Xoom, other manufacturers have not provided or brought to market a competitor that poses a real enough immediate threat to the current iteration of the Ipad to warrant a major feature upgrade such as the Retina( like ) screen. Apple believes they can hedge their bets by releasing a slimmer device with a highlight on processor speed and most importantly from a marketing standpoint, Facetime which will now essentially " work across their platform".

BINGO. This is exactly it.
Why blow the competition away and throw down all the cards when you are still competitive with a minor upgrade.
This tells me that Apple is expecting some serious competion this year and is going to hold on to a few 'trump' cards.

I like Apple - have an iPhone 3GS, plan to upgrade to "iPhone 5" and use a MBP at work. But this is (TO ME) is not a good upgrade. No SD-Card or Thunderbolt connectivity? No high-res screen? iPad 2 has what new... a couple cams, thinner (which most people don't care about), and more RAM (which is very good)...but still, whoopdee-freaking-doo. Especially with the Xoom and TouchPad (etc) coming out with dual-core processors, SD slots, better messaging and multi-tasking options, 1G RAM, HD cam, etc etc. Apple has to keep up and hopefully next Wednesday will offer more than 2 cams, more RAM, and thinner. I hope they at least put a higher res screen and some type of better connectivity.

All I'm saying is Apple can't lay back on their laurels and think, "We're Apple... iPad is #1, we have our devoted fans/buyers and we can put anything out there, even if it's not as good as the competition because they'll buy anything with an Apple logo." Next thing you know it'll be Android phones all over again... people will bail on Apple and go to other devices - then Apple is losing market share rapidly and fighting to keep up.

A friend of mine who relies on me for Tech advice wants to buy an iPad for his wife, I been telling him to wait for iPad-2. Now I have to tell him to look at iPad2, but also keep his options open and also look at Xoom and TouchPad when it comes out. Don't get complacent Apple, we aren't all Apple drones.

Great post. In full agreement..

To add. I can't imagine Apple didn't mapped out iPads version 1 through version 6 before version 1 came out. So only they know what to expect...

Usually, Apple adds three kinds of features to every product update. Primary, supplemental, and non-influential.

Primary features are like Retina displays, better CPU/GPU, storage, price, etc. Supplemental features are like longer battery life, and more RAM, etc. Non-influential features are things like thinner/smaller footprint, environmentally friendly, etc.

If no retina display and no CPU/GPU. Are we going to see 32/64/128 GB options? Are we going to see cheaper prices?

My guesses are as follows:

Double the storage space, longer batter life, same size, more RAM, and more environmentally friendly.

"I could publish things Im only half-sure about, like the iPad 2 switching from aluminum to a lightweight high-strength carbon fiber body, but I dont, because Im only half-sure and Ive only heard about it from second-hand sources who themselves are unsure about it. And even if I were to off-handedly mention such speculation, Id do so in a footnote and take pains to emphasize the uncertain nature of the information and the second-hand status of the sources thereof. What I would never do is take a flyer and report uncertain speculation as a fact, and, if it wound up not panning out, chalk it up to Apple having changed things at the last moment rather than the report being flat-out wrong all along."

So you'd use Thunderbolt to connect the iPad to a RAID array, or a 30" monitor?
I am sorry, the iPad needs Thunderbolt in the same way that a pushchair needs a chainsaw.

C.

Are you purposely being obtuse? Do you not understand how a faster data connection and more power from a host computer could benefit accessory devices like tablets? You comment alludes to Thunderbolt being a limited scope technology that is only for host PCs, RAID drives and external displays. That simply isn't the case and regardless why you think USB isn't the longterm solution for syncing and charging accessory devices.

There might be a reason Apple wants to update the iPad more then once a year. I, however, highly doubt Apple has any interest of offering an iPad update at the same time as the iPad.

Apple likes to stagger product releases throughout the year to carry earnings momentum throughout the year. Further, studies show people spend less money on gifts for others then they do on gifts for themselves. Many companies including Apple update less expensive products (e.g. iPods around the holidays), however, update more expensive products afterwards.

Apple wants people buying things before the holiday (one earnings quarter), and right after the holidays (another earnings quarter).

Quote:

Originally Posted by alandail

They have a a very good reason to have a two releases this year. To get on the iPod release cycle which gets the best products out before christmas instead of after.

Are you purposely being obtuse? Do you not understand how a faster data connection and more power from a host computer could benefit accessory devices like tablets? You comment alludes to Thunderbolt being a limited scope technology that is only for host PCs, RAID drives and external displays. That simply isn't the case and regardless why you think USB isn't the longterm solution for syncing and charging accessory devices.

That's fine, but what percentage of the iPad's addressable market is going to be using Thunderbolt equipped Macs, over the next year? I think it would make more sense to allow some ecosystem to develop before sticking an all but useless port on there, because syncing to a relatively few computer with the capacity to do so would literally be all it could do. On the Powerbooks there will shortly be storage solutions, probably pro video solutions coming to market, and Apple will not doubt start putting Thunderbolt hubs on their monitors, but the iPad can't use any of that.

They spoke of the sayings and doings of their commander, the grand duke, and told stories of his kindness and irascibility.

That's fine, but what percentage of the iPad's addressable market is going to be using Thunderbolt equipped Macs, over the next year? I think it would make more sense to allow some ecosystem to develop before sticking an all but useless port on there, because syncing to a relatively few computer with the capacity to do so would literally be all it could do. On the Powerbooks there will shortly be storage solutions, probably pro video solutions coming to market, and Apple will not doubt start putting Thunderbolt hubs on their monitors, but the iPad can't use any of that.

It's also a mini display port, which is better than a VGA adaptor.

Better than my Bose, better than my Skullcandy's, listening to Mozart through my LeBron James limited edition PowerBeats by Dre is almost as good as my Sennheisers.

Anyways, I think these rumours are silly. An engineering issue that prevents inclusion of an SD card slot? Really? Apple, with all its experience couldn't figure out a way to build in an SD card slot? And they didn't realize this until 1+ years into the development of iPad 2?

Lets just say that nobody knows whats coming out Mar 2 and be done with it.

It's great technology. But currently there are are few/no Lightpeak devices.

The initial benefit will be to high performance applications. Video editing. Compositing. Capture cards. HD film making. - and of course file storage.

Makes total sense for the film-makersfavourite notebook computer. Makes absolutely no sense for a tablet that does not even have a user accessible file system.

C.

I don't understand your comments either. Just because TB is allot for a tablet doesn't mean a tablet wouldn't benefit.

1) the tech is cheap . We don't know what the component costs are yet, but the intent was to make it as cheap as USB and firewire.

2) Apple and Intel both want to "supplant" usb at least in as much as they and we are all tired of the various cables. What better way to do this than include the port on iphones ipad and ipods? Apple can put TB on all of it's macs next week, but it wouldn't affect adoption of TB nearly as much as it would if they put in on all idevices. This will even encourage PC owners to want TB.

3) the TB port would also include and HD video out that so many have been complaining about.

4) The entire point of TB is to make it easy to convert a universal cable to a "proprietary" cable type. Why not just put TB on the ipad and include a USB adapter if need be?

5) this allows tablets to send very "clean" video in and out of the device. I could think of more than a few ways, movie and medical businesses alone would benefit.
'
TB's one port is exactly what a tablet needs. Don't be ridiculous in your assumption that we won't see it on the ipad iphone or ipods. We will most certainly, maybe not next week, but soon.

I would also suspect that we'll see TB on the Ipad as the 2nd port rumors have mentioned or just replace the doc connector all together.

turtles all the way up and turtles all the way down... infinite context means infinite possibility

It was customer first, than cash...
Now it is cash first, than customer...

They are following in Bill Gates shoes...

There is a reason Apple has $45B in cash in the bank... They design great aluminum enclosures, but place inside their shell minimum hardware like 16GB for IPad storage so we have to pay $100 or $200 for real storage capacity... It's purely a financial decision not to put in a SD slot, not technical issue... You can buy 64GB or 128 GB Class 10 SD flash... That terrifies them... So they make sure they do not put in a SD slot, so they can inflate their hoards of cash...

So we are left with substandard inner hardware for IPad 2...

They will try to dazzle us the new Lion operating system, to make us forget what little upgrade they actually did to IPAD at the meeting next & we will get another subpar product...

Mac Air same situation, great aluminum enclosure... It is to die for, but it has the same cheap hardware treatment... Intel Core Duo 1.4 Ghz, 3M L2 Cache... released in Sept 2008... (At least this was only one I could find matching Intel's current offerings)... 2 GB RAM, again terrible choice for great for raking in the cash... And more cash for Apple...